Attachment

An attachment can be defined as a close two-way emotional bond between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security. Attachments in humans take a few months to develop. We can recognise an attachment when people display particular behaviours including;

• Separation anxiety/distress - people are distressed when an attachment figure leaves their presence
• Secure base behaviours - even when we are independent we tend to make regular contact with our attachment figures. Infants display secure-based behaviours when they regularly return to their attachment figure while playing
• Proximity - people try to stay physically close to those people they have attachments with

The 1st attachment formed is between the parent and infant. In most cases this is between the mother and child. A baby begins to form an attachment at around 6-9 months

Parent - Infant Attachment:

Traditionally we thought in terms of mother-infant attachment (where infants form their 1st attachments with their mum). Schaffer &…